One of the various types of ink jet recording apparatuses is the so-called serial type. When an ink jet recording apparatus of this type forms an image, not only does it reciprocally moves its recording head in a preset direction (primary scan direction) in a manner of scanning recording medium, but also, it conveys the recording medium in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which it moves the recording head. One of the methods for supplying the recording head of an ink jet recording apparatus of the serial type with ink is the so-called “on-carriage method”. According to this method, an ink container is separably or inseparably attached to a recording head mounted on a carriage or the like, and supplies the recording head with ink while the recording head (carriage) is reciprocally moved (in primary scan direction). There is another ink supplying method called off-carriage method for supplying the recording head of an ink jet recording apparatus with ink. According to this method, an ink container is not attached to a recording head which is to be mounted on a carriage. That is, the ink container is solidly anchored to a preset part of a recording apparatus, and is connected to the recording head with the use of a piece of flexible tube or the like to supply the recording head with ink.
In the case of the ink supplying method of the “on-carriage type”, an ink container is moved in the primary scan direction, during an image forming operation. Therefore, it is impossible to replace an ink container during an image forming operation. Further, in order to prevent the ink container of an ink jet recording of the “on-carriage type” from being carelessly replaced at a non-scheduled point in time (even when the ink jet recording apparatus is on standby), the carriage of an ink jet recording apparatus of the “on-carriage type” is positioned so that the ink containers on the carriage is not replaceable unless it is moved to a preset location at which the ink containers are allowed to be replaced. Thus, the normal procedure for replacing the ink containers in an ink jet recording apparatus of the “on-carriage type” is as follows: A user is to give an ink container replacement command to the ink jet recording apparatus. Upon reception of the command, the ink jet recording apparatus moves its carriage to a location called “ink container replacement point”, where the ink container replacement operation can be easily carried out. Then, the apparatus prompts the user to replace the ink containers on the carriage.
In the case of an ink supplying method of the “off-carriage type”, an ink container is solidly anchored to a preset area of the recording apparatus. Therefore, not only is it possible to replace the ink container while the recording apparatus is not being used for recording, but also, it is sometimes possible to replace the ink container while the recording apparatus is being used for recording. Thus, some ink jet recording apparatuses of this type are designed so that they continuously watch whether or not it is safe for the ink containers in the recording apparatuses to be replaced at a given moment, in order to prevent an ink container replacement operation from causing the recording apparatuses to malfunction, whereas some are provided with a mechanism capable of preventing the ink containers in the recording apparatus from being carelessly replaced, in order to ensure, by properly controlling this mechanism, that the normal recording operation continues.
FIG. 19 is a schematic drawing of an example of an ink jet recording apparatus of the “off-carriage type”, and FIG. 20 is a schematic drawing of another example of an ink jet recording apparatus of the “off-carriage type”. In the two drawings, a referential numeral 100 designates a recording apparatus 1, and a referential numeral 102 designates an ink container mounted in the ink container bay 101 of the main assembly of the recording apparatus 1. Designated by a referential numeral 103 is a sheet feeder section for feeding recording medium into the main assembly, and designated by a referential numeral 104 is a sheet delivery section, into which recording medium is discharged after the completion of the image formation on the recording medium. FIG. 19 shows an example of an ink jet recording apparatus of the “off-carriage type”, in which four ink containers 102 are mounted so that the four ink container 100 horizontally align in parallel. On the other hand, FIG. 20 shows an example of an ink jet recording apparatus of the “off-carriage type”, in which four ink containers 102 are differently mounted from the way they are mounted in the apparatus shown in FIG. 19. That is, this apparatus is provided with two ink container bays (101): left- and right-hand ink container bays located in a manner of sandwiching the sheet feeder section 103. The two of the four ink containers are vertically stacked in the left-hand ink container bay, whereas the other two are vertically stacked in the right-hand ink container bay.
From the standpoint of preventing an ink jet recording apparatus from being made to malfunction by the careless ink container replacement, even an ink jet recording apparatus of the “off-carriage type”, such as the above described one, is desired to be designed so that the timing and location for ink container replacement remain under the control of the recording apparatus. In particular, in the case of an ink jet recording apparatus of the “off-carriage type”, the ink lines which connects the ink containers and recording head are relatively long. Therefore, it is desired to minimize the length of time a user has to wait while a performance restoration operation, such as the operation for removing the bubbles having entered the ink lines due to the careless ink container replacement, is carried out, and/or to minimize the amount by which waste ink is increased by the performance restoration operation. Therefore, even an ink jet recording apparatus of the “off-carriage type” is desired to be designed so that when it is possible for problems, such as the abovementioned bubble entry into the ink line, to occur, the apparatus executes a proper control for blocking the ink container removal operation.
Recent ink jet recording apparatuses are highly advanced in terms of image resolution and printing speed. Therefore, it has become very important to keep the performance of an ink jet recording apparatus at its original level. Thus, it has come to be strongly desired to strictly control the operation for mounting a recording head and ink containers. Japanese Laid-open Patent Application 2003-237038, for example, discloses an ink jet recording apparatus in which the bubble entry into the ink lines is prevented by the combination of a holding member and a separation preventing means.
The methods for preventing the ink containers in the ink jet recording apparatus from being replaced, can be roughly classified into two groups: the group in which an ink container itself is solidly attached to an ink jet recording apparatus, and the group in which an ink container bay is provided with a lid which is controlled in opening and closing movements. There are products which detect the movement of the abovementioned lid and warn a user, although it does not control the opening and closing movements of the lid. In the case of an ink jet recording of this type, an ink container can be removed by a user in spite of the warning. Therefore, after the careless removal of an ink container, it is mandatory that an operation of restoring the performance of an ink jet recording apparatus to its normal level is carried out.
In order to ensure that an ink jet recording apparatus forms an image which is accurate in color, the order in which its recording heads, that is, black, cyan, magenta, and yellow color recording heads, for example, are arranged is preset. Accordingly, the ink containers which store the inks of these colors, one for one, are mounted in the corresponding ink container slots, in the ink container bay, which are arranged in the order preset according to the order in which the recording heads are arranged. Usually, the insertion of a wrong ink container is prevented by a method, such as those shown in Japanese Laid-open Patent Applications 2002-234178, 2003-25608, 2003-34040, etc. That is, each ink container is provided with a claw for preventing the ink container from being inserted into a wrong slot, whereas each ink container slot of the ink container bay of an ink jet recording apparatus is also provided with a catch for preventing an ink container from being inserted or anchored in a wrong slot. Further, the shape of the claw is rendered peculiar to the type of the ink to be stored therein, and the shape of the catch is rendered peculiar to the type of the ink container to be mounted therein.
Recently, some ink jet recording apparatuses are designed so that they can be changed in the ink container combination according to their usage. Thus, even an ink jet recording apparatus which are designed to use multiple ordinary inks different in color is sometimes used with a combination of ink containers which contain special inks, one for one, for example, inks which are less susceptible to their ambience, inks which are superior in chromatic characteristic, inks which have been adjusted in properties, such as surface tension, according to the properties of the recording medium, the like. Moreover, sometimes, the original set of ink containers in an ink jet recording apparatus is replaced with a set of ink containers which came into the market and contains inks superior in properties to the inks in the original set.
In any of the abovementioned cases, that is, the cases in which a combination of a claw and catch, such as the above described one, is employed to prevent a wrong ink container from being mounted, it is not according to the ink properties, such as susceptibility to ambience or chromaticity, that the ink container slots in the ink container bay of the ink jet recording apparatus are arranged in a preset order. Instead, the ink container slots are arranged in the order based on ink color. Therefore, any of the ink containers which are identical in the color (cyan, for example) of the ink therein, can be mounted into the ink container slot designated for the ink container of this color (cyan, for example), regardless of the properties, such as the abovementioned ones, other than color. Thus, even if it is desired that a combination of ink containers, which is specific in terms of one of the ink properties other than chromatic properties, is mounted, it is possible that one or more ink containers which are correct in terms of the color of the ink therein, but wrong in terms of the specific property, will be mounted. If a situation, such as the above descried one, occurs, multiple inks different in terms of the specified property are mixed as an image is formed, failing thereby to yield an image which displays the desired characteristics.
On the other hand, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application 10-109429 discloses an ink jet recording apparatus structure which determines whether or not an ink container is in the ink container bay, and whether or not an ink container in the ink container bay is a correct one, by providing ink containers with a light passage. Further, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application 2003-237101 discloses an ink jet recording apparatus structure which determines whether or not an ink container is in the ink container bay, and whether or not an ink container in the ink container bay is a correct one, by the provision of electrical contacts. It is possible to detect the state of the ink containers mounted in an ink jet recording apparatus, by employing the ink jet recording structures disclosed in these patent documents, that is, by providing the ink containers with a light passage or electrical contacts designed, in terms of positional relationship, so that only when all the ink containers in the ink jet recording apparatus match in ink properties, optical or electrical connection is established throughout all the ink containers in the recording apparatus. However, the abovementioned structures cannot prevent a wrong ink container from being mounted into an ink jet recording apparatus. However, they make it possible determine that if optical or electrical connection is not established, at least one of the ink containers in the apparatus is a wrong one. Therefore, the abovementioned problem that inks different in a specific property (or specific properties) are mixed can be prevented by not carrying out an image forming operation, if optical or electrical connection is not established. In practical terms, therefore, it may be said that the abovementioned ink jet apparatus structures can prevent the problem that inks different in a specific property (or specific properties) are mixed, because the abovementioned ink jet apparatus structures make it possible to prevent an image forming operation from being started when a wrong ink container is in an ink jet recording apparatus.
Recently, in the field of an ink jet recording apparatus, not only a large number of inks different in color, but also, various ink containers which are substantially larger in size, have come to be used. Therefore, an ink jet recording apparatus of the “on-carriage type” has increased in the total weight of ink containers mounted on a carriage. Further, it has become impossible to ignore the effects of the increase in the size of the space necessary for the carriage to be reciprocally moved in the primary scan direction while holding ink containers. Thus, the effects which the employment of the ink supplying method of the “off-carriage type” has upon the main assembly of an ink jet recording apparatus in terms of size reduction have come to be reconsidered. Also, from the standpoint of strictly controlling a recent ink jet recording head which is more accurate in chromaticity and higher in recording speed than an ink jet recording apparatus in accordance with the prior art, it is strongly desired that even an ink jet recording apparatus of the “off-carriage type” is designed to prevent a user from carelessly replacing an ink container in an ink jet recording apparatus while the apparatus is operated, or in the like situation, as described above. Also recently, user demand has diversified (whether to prioritize the insusceptibility to ambience, the accuracy in chromaticity, or the like factor), and ink technologies have drastically advanced. Therefore, it has come to be strongly desired that the main assembly side of an ink jet recording apparatus is structured to enable the main assembly to accommodate various types of ink container sets.
Moreover, in consideration of the fact that an ink recording apparatus is widely used, that is, an ink jet recording apparatus is used by various user, it is strongly desired that not only is an ink jet recording apparatus properly structured to meet user demand, but also, to eliminate the possibility that the apparatus will be erroneously operated by a user. Therefore, it has become very important that when an ink container is mounted into an ink jet recording apparatus, the type of the ink container can be reliably detected to prevent the problem that a wrong ink container is used.
However, a structural arrangement, such as those disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Applications 2002-234178, 2003-25608, 2003-34040, etc., in which a combination of a claw and a catch is provided for preventing an ink container bay from being fitted with a wrong ink container, is not suitable for dealing with multiple sets of ink container which are the same in ink color combination, but, are different in ink properties other than color. That is, it is problematic in that it cannot determine whether or not the ink containers in an ink jet recording apparatus match in ink properties, and therefore, cannot prevent inks different in properties from being used in mixture.
Further, even if a structural arrangement, such as those disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Applications 2003-237101 and 10-109429, which can detect that at least one of the ink containers in an ink jet recording apparatus is a wrong ink container, based on the relationship among the multiple ink containers in the ink jet recording apparatus, is employed, it is impossible to prevent an ink container or ink containers in the ink jet recording apparatus from being removed before the ink jet recording apparatus is readied for the ink container removal. In other words, in order to prevent the ink containers in the ink jet recording apparatus from being removed before the ink jet recording apparatus is readied for the ink container removal, a mechanism dedicated to the prevention of the removal of the ink containers in the ink jet recording apparatus prior to the readying of the ink jet apparatus for the ink container removal is necessary. Further, in order to perform the operations necessary to examine the ink containers in an ink jet recording apparatus, the recording apparatus disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application 10-109429 requires an optical element made up of a light emitting element and a light receiving element, and the recording apparatus disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application 2003-237101 requires an electric circuit made up of electric contacts, etc., increasing thereby the apparatus cost by the amount necessary for the optical element and electric circuit, respectively.
It is feasible to provide an ink container with a storage element, such as an EEPROPM, in which information (color and other properties of ink in ink container) peculiar to the ink therein can be stored. In this case, an ink jet recording apparatus determines, by accessing the storage element, whether or a given ink container in the ink container bay is in the normal slot in the ink container bay, or whether or not a given ink container in the ink container bay is a correct one. However, this structural arrangement also requires an electric circuit made up of electrical contacts for establishing electrical connection between an ink container in an ink jet recording apparatus and the main assembly of the ink jet recording apparatus. In addition, it requires a separate mechanism for preventing the ink containers in the ink jet recording apparatus from being removed from the apparatus before the apparatus is readied for the ink container removal.